Talks on Iran’s nuclear program enter final stage in Lausanne

LAUSANNE, April 2. /TASS/. Iran and the Sextet of international mediators (Russia, US, UK, China, France and Germany) will continue negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program today in Switzerland’s Lausanne. Over the last days, the talks marked bringing the parties closer on certain issues and stalling on concrete details of the deal. The ministers of the Sextet and Iran will make another attempt to make a breakthrough and coordinate the political agreement that will set the framework for the future final deal.

Initially, the sides planned to reach the agreement by March 31. However, they only managed to agree only on key aspects at the ministerial level by the deadline. Experts have been working on the exact wording of the final document for the last two days. Today, ministers will look for ways out of a diplomatic stalemate.

"We are running out of time to coordinate several details," a diplomatic source told TASS on Wednesday. According to diplomatic sources, it will be a two-page document consisting of several points. "Some of the Sextet countries expect Iran to come out with proposals that will allow to find a compromise on remaining disputed issues," a European diplomat explained.

Earlier, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the document will envisage limiting the Iranian nuclear program in the long term to restore the trust of the international community in Iran. The mechanism of lifting sanctions from Tehran will also be outlined. Steinmeier said the sanctions issue has been coordinated between all parties, and no disagreements remain there.

However, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said the format of the document remains unclear. "The format of the document has not been defined yet. Everything will depend on the negotiations," he said. Zarif noted that there was no schedule for the talks in Lausanne, stressing that "much will depend on political will.".